This brief summary covers the arrival of Mary and the delegation from the Mary Foundation who went with her.

The purpose of the visit is to learn about the Free From Bullying initiative that has been started in all schools and kindergardens in Greenland.
Greenland had and still has huge social issues with children and youths.

After a flight lasting seven hours she touched down in Iluissat (and not the capital town of Nuuk) and checked in at the local Hotel Arctic.
The scenery in Greenland is a wet dream come true for anyone interested in photography and as we all know Mary is a keen amateur photographer, so after a lunch it was out on the terrace, where she took in the landscape on this splendid summersday with the temperature almost reaching a sweltering 10 degrees C.
Having taken her pictures it was time for a little private excursion in the hills around the small town. (*)

However it wasn't all pleasure. Mary visited a school and kindergarten on the second day of the visit, in the (almost) nearby town of Saqqaq.
Mary was supposed to have went to Saqqaq in a small vessel but the glaciers "calve" thousands of icebergs each summer, the largest of which melt around Labrador some three years or so later. (Sometimes they hit a steamer). The local glaciers had been working overtime so Mary had to sail onboard the patrol corvette (**) Ejner Mikkelsen and being a bigger ship, Mary had to be sailed the rest of the way to the town in a boat.

(*) You either fall helplessly in love with Greenland or you go stircrazy and return in a straight jacket. There is nothing in between.

(**) Being classified by NATO as a patrol ship (P571) she's really an arctic corvette.

How can you describe Greenland?

The sky is lightblue, warm and icy at the same time. The rays of the sun warm you, but the second you leave the sunlight it's cold.
You look at the barren rugged hills, both forbidding and alluring calling out to you.
You are alone, there is no one around but you, no sound but the wind.
With the cool wind against your face you see the scary dark grey water in the fjord, merciless and unforgiving. Ready to swallow you up, lest you let your guard down for even a second.
Scores of icebergs of all sizes, of all shapes constantly change formation on their relentless march towards the sea. If you look away for a moment, the scenery has changed, never to repeat itself. Every moment is unique.
You become lost in the landscape.
The air is so clear and crisp that you want to, you have to, you must, fill your lungs to the verge of bursting.

For a brief moment, when you finally return to reality, you are in doubt... Have centuries passed, or just a few minuttes?

Apart from the the usual anonymous gentlemen the entire police force in Illulissat municipality, (which covers an area the size of Luxembourg, if not more), all five of them had been working overtime. Mainly in securing the privacy of Mary at the hotel and escorting her on her visits.
Even though PET as police officers have just as much authority locally as the uniformed police, their job is primarily to protect Mary, not to deal with the odd over-enthusiastic fan or a drunkard who wish to join the party.

Okay, that was the background, nor for the article. The local police enjoyed the visit as much as the locals. Karl Vinther (appropriate name), head of the local police said: "We have been extremely busy.
We will be somewhat stretched for some time, because some overtime has to be laid off (1 hour overtime = 1 hour off). And then people have to go on vacation as well. But it's all worth it.
It went completely like it was greased (idiom). There has been a really good atmosphere and a lot of enthusiasm. Mary just delivered (*) - she's unique in creating a rapport with the children".

When Mary left, she thanked the five police officers personally.

The Greenlandic police force consists of a mix of Greenlanders and ethnic Danes. The primary function is to maintain order and deal with petty crime, with a small group dealing with more serious crime. There are no prisons in Greenland, so Greenlanders who get a jail sentence are shipped to Denmark.
Apart from that they also deal with costums control. A Greenlandic cop can be on street patrol and one hour later be a costums officer because a plane has landed, then send with a boat to a hamlet two days away.
Fishery inspection and maritime sovereignty is handled by the navy under Greenland Command. Inland sovereignty and policing in the north and east Greenland is handled by the military Sirius Patrol.
Search and Rescue, medical evacuation, supply in rough terrain and surveilliance is handled mainly by the airforce (alongside local rescue service), who are now also operating over Canada.

(*) A very positive meaning. If someone "just delivers/nails it/hit it" and so on, he/she really did well.

Continuation of the coverage in Billed Bladet of Mary's visit to Greenland.

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #24, 2012.
Børnene klæbede til Mary - The children were like glued to Mary.
Written by Anna Johannesen.

The Free from Bullying project is in Greenland called Kammagiitta and both the Mary Foundation and Save the Children went to see what that had led to.
They visited the small town of Illulissat and the hamlet of Saqgaq. (*)
The DRF are very popular as it is Greenland, with Mary and Frederik being the superstars and that is basically how Mary was treated.

Kammagiitta has now been in effect for a couple of years and the results are already showing. The children have become more open and caring towards each other, they are better at solving conflicts among themselves and they have become better mates.
They have also made their own songs to be used as a part of the project, so Mary was of course treated to singing and dancing on the topic of Kammagiitta.

The total population of the hamlet of Saqqaq is 180 and practically everyone had turned out, including visitors from neighbouring hamlets up and down the coast.
Mary's camera was busy, both in regards to capturing the landscape and the local children. (**) Mary also left her autograph, scratched into a window pane in the very small local school.

Mary said about the visit: "Greenland has always had a special place in my husband, the Crown Princes', heart and after my first visit - also in mine".

The run, which is a part of the project, was also a thing started by Mary and the children got a medal by Mary when the crossed the finishing line. (***)
Mary also visited a family crisis centre in the small town of Illulissat before leaving. (****)

The head of Danish Save the Children, Mimi Jacobsen was also a part of the delegation and she said: "The human values are the same everywhere. We just simply to learn how to behave decently towards each other".

Mimi Jacobsen said about Mary: "It was a great pleasure to see how heartily the Crown Princess was recieved by the Greenlandic children. They were crazy about her. Mary, Mary, was heard from everywhere and she acknowleged that with a smile handshakes. In one place the line with children was at least 100 meters long and she didn't skip a single one of them".

(*) Probably a wise thing to do as there is a larger concentration of Danes in the major towns, which inevitable willl result in some cultural influence. But as so much of Greenland consists of small towns and hamlets, they would wittness a more purely Greenlandic approach to Free from Bullying.

(**) I remember Frederik saying something about how they used pictures to explain to Christian (back then) what mum and dad were doing when they were away.

(***) She did the same thing a short while back here in DK.

(****) Unfortunately domestic problems is a huge issue in Greenland, so such centres are very much a necessity. Some centres are for children only, so they have a place to go when both mum and dad are drunk.

I'm glad that the anti-bullying campaign is such a success, and that Mary is taking it abroad, so to speak. It's so important to teach children to be kind to each other, and to accept each other's differences. Children need to understand that for some of their peers school is the safest place, because home is anything but ideal, for whatever reason. I'm so glad the children are responding to the intervention and that Mary was such a hit with them. Children will never feign liking someone, so when they see a good person, they're fast to make their acquaintance.

__________________"My guiding principles in life are to be honest, genuine, thoughtful and caring".
~Prince William~

Continuation of the coverage in Billed Bladet of Mary's visit to Greenland.

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #24, 2012.
Børnene klæbede til Mary - The children were like glued to Mary.
Written by Anna Johannesen.

The Free from Bullying project is in Greenland called Kammagiitta and both the Mary Foundation and Save the Children went to see what that had led to.
They visited the small town of Illulissat and the hamlet of Saqgaq. (*)
The DRF are very popular as it is Greenland, with Mary and Frederik being the superstars and that is basically how Mary was treated.

Kammagiitta has now been in effect for a couple of years and the results are already showing. The children have become more open and caring towards each other, they are better at solving conflicts among themselves and they have become better mates.
They have also made their own songs to be used as a part of the project, so Mary was of course treated to singing and dancing on the topic of Kammagiitta.

The total population of the hamlet of Saqqaq is 180 and practically everyone had turned out, including visitors from neighbouring hamlets up and down the coast.
Mary's camera was busy, both in regards to capturing the landscape and the local children. (**) Mary also left her autograph, scratched into a window pane in the very small local school.

Mary said about the visit: "Greenland has always had a special place in my husband, the Crown Princes', heart and after my first visit - also in mine".

The run, which is a part of the project, was also a thing started by Mary and the children got a medal by Mary when the crossed the finishing line. (***)
Mary also visited a family crisis centre in the small town of Illulissat before leaving. (****)

The head of Danish Save the Children, Mimi Jacobsen was also a part of the delegation and she said: "The human values are the same everywhere. We just simply to learn how to behave decently towards each other".

Mimi Jacobsen said about Mary: "It was a great pleasure to see how heartily the Crown Princess was recieved by the Greenlandic children. They were crazy about her. Mary, Mary, was heard from everywhere and she acknowleged that with a smile handshakes. In one place the line with children was at least 100 meters long and she didn't skip a single one of them".

(*) Probably a wise thing to do as there is a larger concentration of Danes in the major towns, which inevitable willl result in some cultural influence. But as so much of Greenland consists of small towns and hamlets, they would wittness a more purely Greenlandic approach to Free from Bullying.

(**) I remember Frederik saying something about how they used pictures to explain to Christian (back then) what mum and dad were doing when they were away.

(***) She did the same thing a short while back here in DK.

(****) Unfortunately domestic problems is a huge issue in Greenland, so such centres are very much a necessity. Some centres are for children only, so they have a place to go when both mum and dad are drunk.

My gosh, I had no idea this was the way things are in Greenland. We Americans sometimes have this Disneyfied idea of certain countries, and I would think Greenland is one of them.

Nice to see Mary involved in such a worthy cause, and I hope the children get some inspiration from her.

My gosh, I had no idea this was the way things are in Greenland. We Americans sometimes have this Disneyfied idea of certain countries, and I would think Greenland is one of them.

Nice to see Mary involved in such a worthy cause, and I hope the children get some inspiration from her.

Fortunately Greenlandic politicians are now dealing with the problem in earnest, with the help of UN. But it takes time.

Frederik opened such a crisis centre for children in Northern Greenland two or three years ago. It was a combination of an activity centre for children and youths, but also a place to go when necessary.

Unfortunately it isn't just children who are suffering. Many Greenlanders in the hamlets own dogs, either because they live from fishing and hunting or becuase they go hunting from time to time. When the owner go on a binge for days, the dogs, who are tied outside, are not fed or watered.
Sledge dogs are very tough, but still....

Fortunately Greenlandic politicians are now dealing with the problem in earnest, with the help of UN. But it takes time.

Frederik opened such a crisis centre for children in Northern Greenland two or three years ago. It was a combination of an activity centre for children and youths, but also a place to go when necessary.

Unfortunately it isn't just children who are suffering. Many Greenlanders in the hamlets own dogs, either because they live from fishing and hunting or becuase they go hunting from time to time. When the owner go on a binge for days, the dogs, who are tied outside, are not fed or watered.
Sledge dogs are very tough, but still....

You are welcome, Daria_S

I know someone who lived in Alaska for several years and outside of cities there's a lot of drinking going on as well. It must be the isolation and the cold and the dark.

Crown Princess Mary has attended the start of The Mary Foundation's project LæseLeg at a kindergarten in Brøndby today, August 28, 2012. The project is part of the anti-bullying programme and tries to improve the communication skills by dialogic reading followed by role play, retelling of stories, own storytelling, drawing and painting activities and much more. And better communication skills improve and strengthen the (sense of) togetherness.

Lovely pictures, and what a great cause! Bullying is something that should not be accepted, and I'm so glad Mary's foundation is working to make sure that that occurs. On a lighter note, I love the pictures of little girls all dressed up as 'princesses'. Meeting a 'real' one probably made their day .

__________________

__________________"My guiding principles in life are to be honest, genuine, thoughtful and caring".
~Prince William~